Doe Eyes and Butterflies
by OfLove-and-Loss
Summary: A work-in-progress Fantasy AU. Basically a young and sheltered Laura Hollis likes to wander around a lot. She takes comfort in nature and finds a mysterious girl who only seems to hang around at night. Bright meets snarky and the rest is pretty much history as usual. Theres definitely something about her... The two find love, in an unaccepting time.


**Prologue**

The Karnsteins saw themselves as quite the humble family. As far as they were concerned, they were fine leading perfectly inconspicuous lives away from the stress and toil the kingdom wrought. Usually tall, stoic and pale figures of raven hair and sharp analytical eyes- the Karnsteins were regarded respectfully. The leading mister and mistress of the house had stationed themselves up in the frigid Styrian alps away from prying eyes, for they rarely interacted with others unless for business matters, family emergencies or otherwise. The family was fairly wealthy and carried themselves well and that showed. Whenever the two would make journeys into the nearby kingdom of Silas; adorned with their crest and imposing postures, the people would scatter uncertainly. It wasn't as if they had feared them per-say, but rather were slightly intimidated.

Though, while they didn't favor getting their hands dirty, the Karnsteins were soon appointed to the royal council where several families of higher power had conjoined in order to assist the king with matters regarding his kingdom. The lady was a noted scribe for the court, while the man of the house was one of the king's right hand men.

Trouble followed soon after however; as not even a year had passed since the Karnsteins had moved, and the king was found dead in his chambers. Suspected poisoning. His lifeless and hollow body slumped over across his bed with a glass of half-drank champagne- the suspected cause- still fizzing and rather warm. Naturally, the two were the first suspects and were interrogated heavily, being given an indefinite sentence behind the cold and unforgiving bars of the prison beneath the castle.

After being locked up, had they just found that the lady Karnstein had been expecting. Her husband would have brimmed with joy if it weren't for the less than ideal situation the two found themselves in. He spoke to his wife with words of encouragement and grasped her hands tightly at night as they lay together on the floor. As the months passed and lingered, the guards must've caught on as the lady's figure started to bloom outward- for they started sneaking in slightly more meals with a sad knowing smile and nod. As it had turned out, in the Karnsteins case, not every citizen of the kingdom had loathed them, some had been sympathetic even towards their plight and took their side. Maybe there was to be some hope after all?

One of those men, from a few villages away, had happened to be one Sherman Hollis. He was quite the kind and considerable man, given his meager status- and just so happened to be a close friend of the man of house Karnstein. After hearing of the assassination of the King and their situation, he and his wife had hoped and prayed for them with all of their being. They had been able to exchange letters, courtesy of the kinder guards and thus words of encouragement towards their child's health and release.

A few mornings later, Sherman had yet to receive word back from his old friend. He quickly grew worried and paced back and forth across the house- until he heard what seemed to be a retching noise from a few rooms over. His wife slowly walked out of the bathroom with a bit of sweat on her face whilst clutching her stomach and smiling. It took him a minute or so to register and he was practically glowing. He rushed up to his wife, grinning the biggest grin, and wrapping her up in the biggest bear hug. That was, until he realized he was probably putting too much pressure on the child and backed away smiling nervously. His wife chuckled and shook her head, reassuring that everything was fine as he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

Sherman rushed into his office and immediately got out his parchment and quill. He wrote fondly of his wife's news and asked how everything was going for them. Had they heard when they'd be cleared? Had the child faired alright? He couldn't help but smile a bit as he realized they were both going through the same feelings of pride no doubt. He wondered if their children would ever meet someday. He had hoped they would. He stopped to think and scribbled down some ideas for baby names on the back of the parchment and signed it fondly.

A few months had passed and lady Karnstein was close to labor. Sir Karnstein had finally been able to write back to his dear friend and apologized profusely for the hold-up. Not that Sherman Hollis would complain, he swore the man was too good natured and understanding to care. The nice guard had been on patrol that night and had slipped a faded piece of parchment into their slot. He carefully grasped at the edges and unfurled the letter. It read:

"My dear friends,

I hope you both are only fairing the best. I can't begin to imagine the unjust fool who had dared to do this to you, for I trust in nothing but your innocence. Congratulations on your little joy! I hope when they are graced into the world that they be welcomed with open arms. I hope that they and the misses are healthy and that you make it out to live life right again on the other side. I also have some great news- Eleanor is pregnant! Can you believe it? The odds. I thank the gods for these little blessings and I do hope they will be able to meet someday. I'm sure they'll be the best of friends. I'm not too sure about you, but honestly, I'm hoping for a little girl. I want to be a good father figure that she could look up to and learn from, to be strong like her mother. Well, no matter what they are, I'll love them with all of my being and I'm sure you both will too. Eleanor passes her greetings and wishes the best for you as well.

With love,

Sherman Hollis."

He smiled fondly and noticed a bit of black ink on the side of the parchment and decided to flip it over. Before he could read it, the more noticeably stern of the guards walked up and unlocked their door requesting for him. He complied and kneeled down to his wife, smiling and kissing her hands with a promise he'd be back in no time.

As the door clanged shut, she looked up uncertainly and heard small whispers from among the group of guards as her husband was escorted away. "Finally, we witness...The execution of Count Karnstein." Her eyes widened and her face paled to a stark white. She rushed to get up but a sharp pain from her stomach had pulled her back. The parchment had escaped from his fingers and fluttered to the ground slowly, hitting the tile in front of her. She looked down uncertainly and read:

"P.S. What do you think of Laura?"

 **A/N: A kinda brief introduction? So, hey guys. I'm still pretty new to the whole writing stories kinda thing and fairly new to the Carmilla fandom as well- I probably got a bit too invested and that's probably unhealthy but eh, this is my life now. Also waiting for s3 is slowly killing me on the inside as it is for many others. So this is probably more of a trial run than anything... Also fantasy AUs yay. Well, I hope you guys enjoy and any feedback is appreciated for as I go along ya know. And hopefully I also won't be too busy but I just started college not too long ago ( yea in college writing fanfic huh? Liiiivin' the dream) so we shall see. Anyways I've kept you long enough. Thanks guys.**


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